Button 141: United Cartoon Workers Local 6: New York

In the early '70s underground cartoonists
actually considered the formation of a labor union. Artists like
Spain Rodriguez and Robert Crumb attended meetings
of the venerable but tiny International Workers of the World
(I.W.W.) in San Francisco. Some artists thought a union would
help them get better deals with publishers. The affiliation with
the old left "Wobblies" never went anywhere but the
idea of artist solidarity had wide appeal. Denis Kitchen,
then in the midwest, was publisher and owner of Krupp Comic Works/Kitchen
Sink, but he was also a cartoonist and at the time a card-carrying
socialist. He created U.C.W.A. buttons as the first visible symbol
of cartoonist solidarity.

There were only two significant clusters
of underground cartoonists in 1973: San Francisco, where undergrounds
originated and flourished, was designated Local No. 1 and Milwaukee,
then home to Krupp/Kitchen Sink and half a dozen or so underground
cartoonists, became Local No. 2 and they enjoyed the only official
buttons for seventeen years. By 1990 the growing number of young
and activist cartoonists led Kitchen to expand the number of
official locals. The cumbersome two and a quarter inch buttons
were replaced by more practical (wearable) one and a quarter
inch designs. New York City (home of Art Spiegelman,
Yossarian, Kim Deitch, Joe Coleman and many other cartoonists)
was designated Local No. 6. Designed by Peter Poplaski
and Denis Kitchen. (See also buttons #2-A, 7-A, 67, 136-140
and 157).

Diameter 1.25 inches. $5.00

One note, for serious button collectors,
you may want to read the KSP
BUTTON TEXT which explains the numbering systems for
identifying the various buttons produced over the last 30 years,
or see the COMPLETE
KSP BUTTON LIST. The list is VERY long, so be patient
while it loads.

In the early '70s underground cartoonists
actually considered the formation of a labor union. Artists like
Spain Rodriguez and Robert Crumb attended meetings
of the venerable but tiny International Workers of the World
(I.W.W.) in San Francisco. Some artists thought a union would
help them get better deals with publishers. The affiliation with
the old left "Wobblies" never went anywhere but the
idea of artist solidarity had wide appeal. Denis Kitchen,
then in the midwest, was publisher and owner of Krupp Comic Works/Kitchen
Sink, but he was also a cartoonist and at the time a card-carrying
socialist. He created U.C.W.A. buttons as the first visible symbol
of cartoonist solidarity.

There were only two significant clusters
of underground cartoonists in 1973: San Francisco, where undergrounds
originated and flourished, was designated Local No. 1 and Milwaukee,
then home to Krupp/Kitchen Sink and half a dozen or so underground
cartoonists, became Local No. 2 and they enjoyed the only official
buttons for seventeen years. By 1990 the growing number of young
and activist cartoonists led Kitchen to expand the number of
official locals. The cumbersome two and a quarter inch buttons
were replaced by more practical (wearable) one and a quarter
inch designs. New York City (home of Art Spiegelman,
Yossarian, Kim Deitch, Joe Coleman and many other cartoonists)
was designated Local No. 6. Designed by Peter Poplaski
and Denis Kitchen. (See also buttons #2-A, 7-A, 67, 136-140
and 157).

Diameter 1.25 inches. $5.00

One note, for serious button collectors,
you may want to read the KSP
BUTTON TEXT which explains the numbering systems for
identifying the various buttons produced over the last 30 years,
or see the COMPLETE
KSP BUTTON LIST. The list is VERY long, so be patient
while it loads.